In the next morning, after passing two more villages, the group finally arrives at the first town in this world. According to Johno, the town is named Brendhill. Unfortunately, the town’s current state is definitely not welcoming toward any outsider.

The grass field in front of the town’s gate is drenched in blood and charred black by the fire in many places. There are more than hundreds of corpse-littered around, but one good thing is that the majority of them belong to the goblin army, either the goblins or the wolves they rode. Sadly, there are also many human corpses as well.

The wall defending the town is filled with holes and cracks all over the place, like it was attacked by the siege weapons. Standing on the wall are the soldiers on guard with serious expressions. They are scrutinizing any smallest detail that they can observe on the field. With the sight of Makoto’s group, their alert state reaches the highest point, and more soldiers climb on the wall to observe the new guest. Luckily, they are not preparing any bow or crossbow.

“Looks like the town is not welcoming any guest at the moment.” Yuuko says.

“That’s to be expected. Any battle will make everyone stressful and cautious toward the surrounding.”

“Let’s go in. At least, the other side notices that we are also on the human side.” Makoto urges the other to come forward.

“What purpose do you come here for?” The guard man on the top of the gate shouts out.

“We are wandering warriors who happened to witness the destruction of the goblin army here. We come here in order to resupply ourselves and report the situation of the villages outside.” Yuuko shouts out from the ground.

After receiving a nod from the man behind him, the guard answers “Very well. Brendhill town welcomes your arrival. Please come in.”

The iron gate opens slowly by moving up, revealing two more gates also opening behind. Strangely enough, these gates are not as damaged as the wall.

A wide bread man in full plate armor comes out, followed by two more soldiers standing from behind. He spreads out his hand as a sign of welcome.

“Greetings, brave warriors from the outside. I can sense the blood of those filthy green skins on your weapons and armors. You must have slain a lot of them to avenge our people. The Brendhill town is always open to people like you.” The man offers an exquisite praise toward the two girls who are in warrior and mage attire.

“We are very grateful for your encouraging words. It’s our duty to do so.” Yuuko slightly bows down and replies in the same manner.

Makoto also bows down as a sign of respect, making the young rural kid awkwardly follow the same. At the same time, Makoto also checks his status.

Name: Brian Londo

Race

Human

Class

Vahalad Sword Commander

Level

43

Strength

220

Vitality

240

Resistance

186

Agility

123

Magic

130

Magic Resistance

160

Skills

Leadership (Lv 4), Enhanced strength (Lv 8), Sword master (Lv 1), Formation fortification (Lv 3), Mana enchantment (Lv 4), Etiquette (Lv 4), Close combat (Lv 3), Endure pain (Lv 6), Combat instinct (Lv 6), Management (Lv 3)

(Wow, to suddenly meet a strong guy already, being careful is never enough after all.) Makoto thinks.

Even without analyze skill, Yuuko can also sense a strong power residing inside the old man in front of her. She can tell that this guy is much stronger than her in terms of physical strength.

Meanwhile, Lexar still keeps his expression normal. He knows that this old man is strong, but not enough as a threat to endanger these girls’ lives. Although their levels are lower than that breaded guy, the status recorded by the program does not reflect their true strength after all.

After introducing themselves, Brian Londo then guides the group to a mansion near the barrack. On the way, Makoto sees many soldiers and mages busily tending the wounds or checking the equipment. Mixing among them are those probably called adventurers, as the distinctive point between them with the soldiers is that they wear a variety of different dressing codes rather than the uniform armors or robes of the soldiers.

Using Analyze skill constantly, she compares the reality with what Johno told them yesterday.

Most of the soldiers have the level about 10 to 20 with individual’s stat ranging from 30 to 80. Aside from the few basic combat skills, they all have this skill formation fortification. Apparently, this is the skill that gives a boost to an individual when they are acting together as a unit with proper formation. Truly a skill fitting for a class called soldier.

On the other hand, the adventurers are a jumble of everything possible. There are warriors, mages, scouts, barbarians, shamans, and priests. Their levels expand over a larger range than the soldiers’: from level 5 to 30, with more than 90% of them below 20. The variety of skills they possess is more than what the soldiers have. Makoto also finds some strange and unique skills, among which sound quite powerful and useful.

However, rather than the adventurers, Makoto is more intrigued by the soldiers. Aside from the uniform, the soldiers can be distinguished from the adventurers through their classes: Vahalad Warrior Soldier, and Vahalad Basic Mage. Including sir Brian, there are three classes of Vahalad as their initials in this town. On a side note, Vahalad is the name of the country they are currently in.

She has a feeling there is a special behind these Vahalad classes. Comparing the stats between the solders and adventurers, the lv 26 warrior is only slightly above lv 20 warrior solders. The same also applies with the mages. It is clear that the classes belonging to this country give an advantage boost in stat when leveling up, and the benefit is probably not only limited to that.

Based on Johno’s story, to become a solder, one must undergo training at the military academy. After graduating from there, he will receive a ritual to change the class to solder, and start his career and a journey to become the strong.

There are three tiers for this country’s military classes: Soldier and Basic Mage, Commander and True Mage, General and Arch-Mage. Each advance to the next tier requires 20 level and some special conditions. Obviously, the tier of the class reflects the position in the army hierarchy, as well as the strength. At the lowest tier, there are only two classes: Warrior Solder and Basic Mage. However, on the higher tier, there are more branching paths with more classes. For example, the Sword commander.

From these classes, the military is basically divided into two divisions: close combat and magic. Despite being separated like that, it does not mean one cannot learn the skill from the other. There are warrior solders with magic skills, and mages with fighting skills. However, it is clear that the focus of development in each path is different. The close combat division focuses on direct fighting power and formation, while the magic division focuses on providing firepower and doing research.

In this country, the power of the army is quite strong and systematic. There is a system that provides a career path, as well as resource and opportunity to develop for the solders. Being a solder means being given a lot of benefits: steady income, high prestige, access to knowledge and training unavailable to the mass, and preferential treatment on some political issues. However, it also means being bound tightly to an organization, having to follow order and duty, and being forced to do things they don’t like.

In this aspect alone, the adventurer job is better than the solders, with more freedom available. They can decide the job they are going to take, work the way they like, and go to anywhere they want. However, the rest of the aspects may not be so well.

The job of an adventurer is basically self-employed, meaning having to bear the risk all by themselves, without the support of large organization. There is an adventure guild, but that place pretty much functions like a job center, where they put requests and give out reward. They do not provide any resource for developing adventurers. In addition, the guild will not perform any rescue or back up support for the adventurers unless there is profit to it. In addition, the demand for the adventurers is not very high, especially in the place where the army is quite active in exterminating monsters and bandits. Therefore, their income is not stable and fluctuates all the time.

Despite all these shortcomings, there are still many people doing this job and aspiring to do so. The reason for that is ….

…………...

While Makoto is busy with analyzing the information, Yuuko is continuing the conversation with Brian.

“I see. So there are that many villages destroyed by the goblin army.” Brian sighs deeply then looks at the 11-year-old boy “For him to be the only survivor so far. I don’t know whether to call him lucky or not.”

“Sir, can you please look after him and give him a place to stay in this house?” Yuuko makes a request.

“Hm, I guess I can help him join the military academy on a scholarship. Being solder in Vahalad is a steady job with a lot of growth potential. Once he graduates from the academy, his future is pretty much secured…”

“No, I don’t want that. I want to travel together with Yuuko-sis.” Johno suddenly interrupts the conversation.

“Johno…” Yuuko looks at him in surprise. Brain, despite being interrupted, does not get angry or say anything.

“Yuuko-sis’s sword technique is so amazing and beautiful. I want to learn it. I want to get stronger. Then use that strength to kill the goblins and avenge everyone at the village.”

Yuuko puts her hand on Johno’s head then rubs strongly “Stupid kid. Your life’s goal should not focus solely on revenge. I am going to avenge for your family, your villages and everyone else in your stead. After the goblin army is gone, your target of revenge will be gone and the next trouble ahead is your future. You should not decline the generous offer by Sir Londo.”

“If that’s the case, please let me follow you afterward. I want to travel together with you and see the world outside there.”

“No, you can’t. Although I said that I wanted to travel around to learn the world, I am also tasked with an important mission and it’s going to be a very dangerous journey. Bringing you together only hinders our progress. Besides, what can you do for us?” Yuuko bluntly rejects him.

“I ….” The boy stutters then looks down. “You said you want to learn more about the outside world, right? However, without the common sense of how society works, how are you going to proceed your mission smoothly? What about renting the place to stay, handling the money, dealing with local rule, and most importantly, gathering information? How are you going to do all of that?” Johno suddenly rises up and throws a barrage of questions at Yuuko.

“Eh?” This time, Yuuko is the one who at a loss for words, while Brian laughs heartily at their conversation.

Perhaps embarrassed by Brian’s laughter, Yuuko knocks on the kid head “It’s true that big sis does not know about common sense here, but remember that we are proper adults, who are older than you. We can figure all of that gradually by themselves.”

Johno, while hissing and rubbing his head, does not back down and continue to convince “But isn’t your mission really important? How can you afford to spend your time getting used to the society without any guidance? What are you going to do if you get scammed by sly information broker or get overcharged while buying or renting anything?”

“I am the one who has to consider all of that. What can you, a kid from a rural village, do in that situation? If you come along with us, the burden on us will be harder as we do not only have to take care of ourselves, but also you. We are powerful enough, so if there is a problem, we can at least run away. But you can’t do that, not with your ability.”

“I may not look like it, but I am familiar with working in the urban area. Every time the village transports their harvest to the town or city to sell, I am the one they always want to bring along. Trust me. I know the way people do in the town or city, because I am responsible for investigating the prices of the product there, in order to sell our products with the best profit. I also have a couple of acquaintances who are merchants. With my introduction, I can get them to help you gather information necessary for your mission.” Johno points at his chest, showing how confident he is in his ability.

Yuuko widens her eyes in surprise at his reply. She only thinks of him as a normal strong villager boy, but does not expect him to be such a capable person.

“Kid, I know that you are trying to convince me to bring you along. However, don’t make such outrageous lie to me. Even if you are really that useful, I still do not intend to take you along.” Yuuko says in an angry tone. On the side, Brian also nods, thinking the same thing as Yuuko. They do not believe in his words just now.

“I know that you are going to say that. That’s why, with the next time, I am going to introduce to you a person in this town. He can make testimony for my word.” Johno still makes a confident smile.

“Did you just not hear my word? I said I am not ...”

“Isn’t it fine? Just bring him along with us.” Makoto interrupts Yuuko’s words with the local language, not Japanese.